The software, which was developed by both Microsoft and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, takes a look at archives from The New York Times and studies related data on the Internet in order to form predictions about what will happen next in certain parts of the world -- such as disease, violence and a large number of deaths.

The system's sources include The New York Times' archives from 1986-2007, DBpedia (the information in Wikipedia constructed using crowdsourcing), WordNet (helps software understand what words mean) and OpenCyc (provides a database of common knowledge).

What the system does is study news reports, then uses outside data for context. For example, the system saw reports of droughts in Angola in 2006. From studying data on the Web, the system knew that droughts can lead to cholera outbreaks in the country. The system further researches the country's location, population density, GDP, whether there was a drought the year before, proportion of land covered by water, etc.

After collecting said information, and studying yet another report from NYT saying that there were large storms in Angola in early 2007, the system predicted the cholera outbreak. Less than one week later, reports of cholera had appeared.

“I truly view this as a foreshadowing of what’s to come,” said Eric Horvitz, codirector at Microsoft Research who led the study with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Kira Radinsky. “Eventually this kind of work will start to have an influence on how things go for people.”

When testing the software, Horvitz and Radinsky found that it was correct between 70 and 90 percent of the time. The team said the software could use some extra work in terms of greater accuracy, but once that is complete, it hopes the system can be used to help organizations tackle world problems.

While some predictive tools are already in use, this particular software uses 90 data sources total, making it a more "general purpose" tool.

He's done a terrible job to be honest. As soon as Gates left and Steve took over, Microsoft's growth has flat-lined. He's done a good job of sitting in the captains chair, but when it comes to actually steering the ship? Well you've seen Titanic, right?

Maybe with this software Microsoft can "predict" why Windows 8 sucks for the desktop, why the average person has no idea what "RT" means or what it's for, and why the Surface mutant tablet isn't a good value proposition.

totally agreed. MS's folleys in the mobile space are another good example. They have had a mobile phone OS years before google and Apple. Even when comparing to the onld Palm OS, it was crap. They just never could "get it". Now they do have a decent OS, but jsut cant "get it" with regards to getting it out there... But I was just referring to teh public face of hte company. Having this guy on stage ranting and raving, sweating and making odd faces just doesnt seem like a good idea. I look at those pics, or just watch him in a presentation and I dont think "CEO of the worlds largest and most important tech company"... I think "Creepy old man down the street that leers at the children"

"Game reviewers fought each other to write the most glowing coverage possible for the powerhouse Sony, MS systems. Reviewers flipped coins to see who would review the Nintendo Wii. The losers got stuck with the job." -- Andy Marken